Mendocino County Municipal Code Ch. 20.488 Coastal Development General Review Criteria

(A) The purpose of the coastal development special review criteria is to insure that proposed development will protect, maintain and where feasible enhance and restore the overall quality of the coastal zone environment and its natural and artificial resources.

(B) The approving authority shall apply the general review standards of this Chapter to all Coastal Development Permit applications.

(Ord. No. 3785 (part), adopted 1991)

(A) Development shall not significantly degrade, or destroy the habitat for, endangered plant and animal species, including native mammals and resident and migratory birds. Diversity, both functionally and numerically, shall be maintained.

(B) The productivity of wetlands, estuaries, tidal zones and streams shall be protected, preserved, and, where feasible, restored.

(C) Approved grading activities shall be conducted in a manner that will assure that environmentally sensitive habitat areas will be protected from adverse impacts that can result from mechanical damage and undesirable changes in the water table, subsurface aeration and impacts to the root system of riparian vegetation, the alteration of surface or subsurface drainage, or other environmental conditions.

(D) Wetland buffer areas (the transition areas between wetland and upland habitats) shall be protected, preserved, and, where feasible, restored.

(Ord. No. 3785 (part), adopted 1991)